PGA Tour must breathe deeply and discipline Vijay Singh

Vijay Singh and deer antler spray – now there’s a lively, unlikely way to start a golf column.

Most of Wednesday’s performance-enhancing drug headlines centered on Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Singh sailed below the mainstream media radar, partly because details of his involvement surfaced nearly two-thirds of the way through Sports Illustrated’s comprehensive story on Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS).

Singh essentially promoted the company’s products, according to the story. The problem, as SI pointed out: One of those products, deer antler spray, contains IGF-1, a muscle-stimulating hormone banned by the PGA Tour, the NCAA and every major professional sport.

Big problem.

Vijay Singh, shown here during the 2008 AT&T, will return next week -- under a cloud.

Singh admitted his use of deer antler spray in a statement released by the tour Wednesday. He claimed not to know it included a banned substance, a defense curiously similar to the one offered by former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds (another athlete who excelled late in his career).

Either way, the PGA Tour – if it wants its anti-doping policy to carry any credibility – needs to discipline Singh swiftly and publicly. He didn’t test positive, but that’s because IGF-1 is only detectable through blood tests and the tour’s drug-testing program uses urine tests.

Still, the policy specifically includes a reference to “admitting to any conduct that violates the program.” And that’s exactly what Singh did in his statement, clearly and unequivocally.

“While I have used deer antler spray, at no time was I aware that it may contain a substance that is banned under the PGA Tour Anti-Doping Policy,” he said. “In fact, when I first received the product, I reviewed the list of ingredients and did not see any prohibited substances.

“I am absolutely shocked that deer antler spray may contain a banned substance and am angry that I have put myself in this position. I have been in contact with the PGA Tour and am cooperating fully with their review of this matter.”

Tour spokesman Ty Votaw, in an e-mail, said the tour is “in the midst” of that review and will not comment until the review is complete.

Some wider context here: PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was reluctant to embrace drug testing in the first place (the tour’s anti-doping program was adopted in 2008). Finchem long refused to acknowledge golfers could benefit from PEDs – increased strength and faster recovery from injuries help in golf, yes? – and suggested tour pros wouldn’t cheat.

Please. Money and fame are powerful lures.

Only one player (Doug Barron) has tested positive, so maybe Finchem had a point. Or maybe some golfers, like athletes in other sports, skirted the rules and found a competitive edge wherever they could. Singh’s admission should raise some alarms, because IGF-1 was undetectable by the tour’s testing program.

Also worth noting is that tour officials, to their credit, warned players to stop using deer antler spray in August 2011. Singh obviously wasn’t paying attention – or didn’t care.

Pebble on tap: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to play in next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, adding a layer of social significance. Augusta National announced in August that Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore would become the club’s first two female members.

Maybe most importantly, the early forecast is encouraging. Weather.com calls for partly sunny conditions, a high of 57 degrees and little-to-no chance of rain for the tournament’s first two days, on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8.